» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | | | | | 06-27-2012, 03:36 AM | #1 | Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Hartford CT, USA Posts: 33 | What tires to buy? I have seen many threads about wheels, but few about tires. I have 2 sets of wheels/tires, one for all-weather driving and a set of snow tires. Both sets are worn and are in need of replacing, but I can only afford to buy one set until next year. The all-weather tires are the ones being replaced first, and they will have to function through one winter season. So the question goes out to you all... What tires should I buy for my ti? I value a quiet/comfortable ride, and decent tire life. Most importantly I love driving my ti hard on those curvy New England roads! __________________ MY EYES! THE GOGGLES THEY DO NOTHING! | | | 06-27-2012, 04:33 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 | BF Goodrich 225/50/16. That's what I use all year round. These were put on by the previous owner who put about 10,000 miles on them. I put 16,000 miles on them and they still have 50%+ tread left. In the snow, they aren't too great, but I'd say its a lot more of the car's weight/RWD that poses more of a problem than the tires compared to some heavy duty 15" snow tires. I'm not too familiar with snow tires, but these have had a good amount of asbuse- I live in the suburbs of Philly so these have seen better days, but still maintain. They have a ton of traction when dry, and are very quiet. | | | 06-27-2012, 04:41 AM | #3 | Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 1,364 | Take a look at Uniroyal Tigerpaw all weather tires. I like them on my wife's Z3 as well as my ti. Good value in my opinion. | | | 06-27-2012, 01:31 PM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Elizabeth City, NC Posts: 3,877 | Continental DWS are the best all season I have driven on. They have soft sidewalls, are quiet, and very comfortable. They won't be a great performance tire though, can't expect that from an all season. __________________ ~Dave~ 98 328ti Morea Grun slicktop 11 128i space gray slicktop 13 JGC WK2 Deep Cherry Search | RealOEM | | | 06-27-2012, 11:40 PM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 | Go to bimmer dealership ask the broski's there | | | 06-27-2012, 11:45 PM | #6 | NOBODY F's with the Jesus Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ventura California Posts: 7,824 | What size? If you need a low profile tire for 17" wheels, I recommend the Yokohama Parada spec2. | | | 06-27-2012, 11:47 PM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 | Quote: Originally Posted by geetarspaz Go to bimmer dealership ask the broski's there | by that i ment jessie! | | | 06-28-2012, 12:13 AM | #8 | NOBODY F's with the Jesus Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ventura California Posts: 7,824 | Quote: Originally Posted by geetarspaz by that i ment jessie! | Lol, I'm just saying that they're the best bang for the buck IMO. I think I paid about 100-120 apiece for mine. I've read mixed reviews, but personally I like Yokohama tires. Michelins offered the best traction for an all season street tire, but they wore really quickly. I didn't like Khumo's at all, they almost killed me. Toyo's had excellent tread life, but didn't offer very good rim protection. Yokohama's had decent tread life and offered great rim protection. I really want to try a set of Hankooks next, but for the price I find it hard to pass up a set of Yokohama Paradas. | | | 06-28-2012, 12:15 AM | #9 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Philly Posts: 605 | My traction is pretty bad in the rain, on any gear if I give it a quick hard gas the car can totally spin out of control. | | | 06-28-2012, 01:13 AM | #10 | Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,464 | Quote: Originally Posted by cooljess76 Lol, I'm just saying that they're the best bang for the buck IMO. I think I paid about 100-120 apiece for mine. I've read mixed reviews, but personally I like Yokohama tires. | I'm running the Yokohama 'S-drive' tires on my ti and after about 5k miles, I love 'em! I think they're a little softer compound than the Paradas, but the road noise, handling, and traction are all superb so far. I paid about $140/ea. for mine (235/40-17). I agree that they get mixed reviews, but I've run Yoko's on a few of my cars and have always been impressed with them. They're definitely not all-season tires, however. If you're looking for a solid all-season tire, I'd go with something like Continental or Nokian. | | | 06-28-2012, 03:07 AM | #11 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: San antonio, tx Posts: 135 | you might want to investigate Nitto tires as well. this is a brand focused on high performance, and is well regarded by experienced track instructors. they have a couple of all season designs----i have the neogen, and have enjoyed the tire over 3 years. it has a tread that is designed for wet weather and also for the camber that lowered suspensions create, so that the tread wears evenly. the price is very reasonable, and you can find them at discounttiredirect.com, which is a well known national tire chain, and they also provide extensive reviews from other users. they carry all the nitto styles, so you can compare sizes and pricing, along with the reviews. the nittotires.com website has descriptive information about the different tires . | | | 06-28-2012, 11:36 AM | #12 | NOBODY F's with the Jesus Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Ventura California Posts: 7,824 | The ad on the top of this page was for a $100 visa gift card with the purchase of 4 tires installed @ America's Tire/Discount Tire. Only good for 1 day though: http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/fin...260126:9839134 | | | 06-28-2012, 01:10 PM | #13 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: MD Posts: 126 | +1 for Yokohamas. I've been running a set of Yokohama ADVANs for about 30k now and they have been great. Previously I've ran some Kumhos (cheap, I'd stay away from) and Nittos. Nittos are nice, but a bit overkill for general driving. I wouldn't spend the money for them anymore unless I was constantly on the track or or auto-x. The 60k mi ADVANs are totally worth it in my opinion. __________________ '96 318ti Base - few mods installed... | | | 06-29-2012, 04:05 PM | #14 | Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1 | Thanks for posting XMcBainx. I have the same question, and wondering 2 other details specific to my own sitch. 1) does the answer for tires change based on the amount of driving done? i.e. my TI is a second car so i don't drive it as often... 2) wheel annoyance - - i have the originals wheels from when i bought her. they "seem" fine but the BMW decals that were in the center over time i guess fell off I really don't want to get new wheels just for the BMW logo but it looks dumb since they fell off! Options ? | | | 06-29-2012, 05:10 PM | #15 | Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,464 | Quote: Originally Posted by PAPizzaGirl Thanks for posting XMcBainx. I have the same question, and wondering 2 other details specific to my own sitch. 1) does the answer for tires change based on the amount of driving done? i.e. my TI is a second car so i don't drive it as often... 2) wheel annoyance - - i have the originals wheels from when i bought her. they "seem" fine but the BMW decals that were in the center over time i guess fell off I really don't want to get new wheels just for the BMW logo but it looks dumb since they fell off! Options ? | With regard to your first question- most people buy tires suited to the type of driving they do, not the amount, unless, of course, you're using your car as a 50+ mile a day commuter, in which case a high performance tire would be impractical since it would wear out in a relatively short time. If the car is just and occasional or weekend driver and you're not a very aggressive driver, you're probably fine with a decent all-season or highway compound that you can probably get 40-50k miles or more out of. With regard to your second question, you can get new OEM wheel caps from Tischer BMW for about $11.50/ea. The caps are universal for just about all 3 series BMW wheels and can be found here. Welcome to the forum! | | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |